superhero
Book Wrap Up 4
Sunday, 4 October 2020 • audiobooks, book review, book wrap-up, books, general fiction, review, superhero
It's been a while since I've done a proper book wrap up. Lately I did a graphic novel wrap up and I've been working on two Net Galley wrap ups, but I've yet to do one for books. So I decided it was about time. I also went to look at a lot of my unfinished drafts and put some of those in here as well. So enjoy!
Hope Never Dies (Obama Biden Mysteries #1) by Andrew Shaffer
It's been several months since the 2016 presidential election, and "Uncle Joe" Biden is puttering around his house, grouting the tile in his master bathroom, feeling lost and adrift in an America that doesn't make sense anymore. But when his favorite Amtrak conductor dies in a suspicious accident, Joe feels a familiar desire to serve - and he leap into the role of amateur sleuth, with a little help from his old friend President Barack Obama.
I'll be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this book. I read it because I thought it would be funny. Come on! Obama and Biden teaming up to solve a murder like the Hardy Boys? That's hilarious!
Was it really hilarious though? Kind of. The humor was there but it just added flavor to a forgettable mystery book. Though let's be honest. If you were really looking for a good mystery book you wouldn't be picking up something so obviously tongue-in-cheek. This was okay through and through. It wasn't bad but it did nothing to stand out. I didn't feel like reading it was a waste of time, but I'm also not going to rush to pick up the next book.
Hope Never Dies is a perfect example of a book that sits comfortably in the middle of good and bad. If you're a huge fan of Joe Biden, then sure, read this, why not? His character is good, he's a smart man. Otherwise I'd let this one pass me up.
Hope Never Dies (Obama Biden Myseries #1) gets a 6 out of 11
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
I tried to write a full review for this a while back but since it's been a while (I read this in February) I figured that I should give up and instead, add it to this wrap up.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. (Premise from Goodreads).
It's been so long since I read this that I can't quite think of what to say besides that I really liked it. I listened to this as an audio book and the narrator was great. The story was captivating from the very first moment and the cast of characters were quite realistic. If you're at all not sure about this book, listen to it the way I did. I borrowed it through Libby. If you have a library card, you may be able to access Libby and read/listen to a plethora of books for free.
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak gets an 10 out of 11
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Ben Mears, a popular writer, moves back to his old hometown of Jerusalem's Lot after the loss of his wife. He wants to reconnect with his past and try and get his writing juices flowing again. He wants to rent a creepy old house he remembers but it was already purchased by some unknown newcomers to the lot. That's when strange events start happening and it's all tied to the creepy old house.
This is a King classic that has been on my TBR since I was a kid. I finally got around to reading it and... yup, it's a Stephen King book. If your'e a fan of his, you know exactly what to expect. A book that's really well written but is more long winded than a hurricane.
Look, let's be honest. If you're thinking of tackling a King classic, you probably already know if you like his work or not. This is an okay King book. It's not bad, but I've also read a lot better. If you've liked books like IT, The Stand, The Tommyknockers, or other tomes of his, then you know exactly what to expect. I would like to see this one get the IT treatment and turned into two movies, or maybe even a mini-series like 11/22/63.
If you've never read King before then maybe start with something shorter to get an idea for his style like Carrie, Cujo, or Misery. If you've already read him then you know what to do.
'Salem's Lot gets a 7 out of 11
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente
The lives of six female superheroes and the girlfriends of superheroes. A ferocious riff on women in superhero comics. A series of linked stories from the points of view of the wives and girlfriends of superheroes, female heroes, and anyone who’s ever been “refrigerated”: comic book women who are killed, raped, brainwashed, driven mad, disabled, or had their powers taken so that a male superhero’s storyline will progress. (Premise from Goodreads)
Now this is a book I both enjoyed AND I can fully understand how it's not for everyone. This is a series of six short stories linked by the fact that each woman is part of the Hell Hath club and these six women share their stories. Some of their stories are familiar. While Valente does make each story her own, you can clearly see how Gwen Stacy, Harley Quinn, and Mira (Aquawoman) inspired their various tales.
This book isn't terribly graphic as far as descriptions go, but it also does deal with heavy topics like suicide and sexual abuse so this is going to further limit who would enjoy this. But if you like books relating to comics, if you're aware of the Refrigerator trope, and/or if you just want to read an interesting book with a comic book theme, then this could be for you.
The Refrigerator Monologues gets a 7.5 out of 11
Dreadnought by April Daniels | Book Review
Sunday, 3 November 2019 • book review, superhero
There are many different things that I enjoy. I love me some superheroes and I love me some books that can tackle modern issues with grace. So when I heard about Dreadnought by April Daniels, I was super excited. I didn’t even wait for it to be returned to my local library. I had to have it. I was already positive I was going to like it when I first opened the book. Did I find what I was expecting? Kind of. Here’s my review.
Let me start by saying that I did like this book. I think it’s important to say this because I’m going to criticize the book and normally when there’s too much criticism, there’s the mistaken belief that the critic didn’t like it. I enjoyed this book. I really did. But there are some things you should know before you go into it. But first, here’s what it’s about.
Danny has a few problems. The first is that she has always believed she was a girl, but just born into the wrong body. The second is that one of the greatest superheroes in the world just died right in front of her. Not only that, but he passed along his mantle to her so she’s the new Dreadnought. Let’s top this all off with the fact that the powers transform her body into what she thinks it should have been, a woman’s body. So now she has superpowers when there’s a villain lurking around somewhere with the power to kill a world class hero. That’s pretty bad. But also she’s physically a woman now, and she hasn’t even come out to her family yet. What’s a girl to do?
Before I picked up the book I read some of the reviews on Goodreads and I noticed that most of them sang the praises of the book. But I’m always interested in the bad reviews too. Were the bad reviews for this book written by transphobic people? No. Actually. No they weren’t. I was surprised to find that quite a few of the worst reviews were written by people who were excited to read the book but were disappointed. And now, only after finishing Dreadnought, I can see both sides. I can see why some sing its praises while others lament what could have been.
Are you hungry? I’ll make you a compliment sandwich. Just remember, there may be a lot of filling in this sandwich, but the bread is still quite good.
The best thing about this book was it’s interesting story and how much there was going on. So we have Danny, or Danielle as she likes to be called, who has newfound powers and has suddenly caught the eye of her city’s version of the Avengers. So she gets swept up into this world of superheroes and has a big decision to make. Will she join this league of heroes? Does she even want to be a hero? Or will she give up her powers and return to the way things were.
There was always something new or something interesting going on so the book never felt stagnant. I kept turning the pages even during the parts I didn’t like, which really says something. Some of the problems I had with this book could have sunk it for me. If Dreadnought wasn’t as interesting as it was, I would have walked away. But I kept turning the pages because I had to know what happened.
Some people had problems with April Daniels writing style but I’m not one of those people. I think that if she didn’t have a good style then the book would have quickly become insufferable. Daniels has a very conversational tone to her writing, which is one of my favorite styles and the one I implement myself. The whole thing was quite easy to read. The hardest part for me was remembering a certain characters name. That’s it. And the only reason I had trouble is because I misread it the first few times and thus got the wrong name stuck in my head.
Let’s get into the meat of this review. The issues. The first thing, and the biggest strike against Dreadnought, is the characters. There is no real depth. The only character that gets a somewhat fleshed out background is Danny but even with her, we don’t know much. She was born in a male body but believes she’s not a boy. She was on the football team before her transformation, she had known she was trans from a young age, her home life sucks, and she has one best friend. That’s all we really know. I would have loved to know more about what makes her tick, but we don’t get that. All we get a surface level glimpse into her. During the book we learn that, due to mean father, she has more self doubt and self hatred than anyone I can think of. In fact, it gets really old. While it is realistic that someone with Danielle’s history had a multitude of issues, we hear about it so much that it just becomes background nose. It quickly turns from an honest cry for help into the girl who cried wolf. The wolf is there but no one is listening to you.
Also, there are quite a few main characters who are so transphobic that they might as well have “I hate trannys” tattooed on their forehead with red swastika armbands. I know that people like them really do exist and April Daniels once said that these characters were based off actual thing she’s heard and that’s happened to her, but good God, calm down a bit. There were actual transgendered people who wrote reviews on this book, who were treated terribly after coming out just like Danny, who thought it trans hate in this book was overdone.
Also, we have a weird flip side of an issue in this book. How many movies, books, TV shows, or other media are there that have a million male characters but not one good female character. It’s the opposite with Dreadnought. All of the male characters are either outrageously transphobic, or get mentioned so little that they’re barely a character. There are two, two male characters who aren’t either transphobic, or a straight up villain. And they only get mentioned a handful of times and only have a couple scenes throughout the book. Just because the lack of strong female characters in a huge problem in media, doesn’t make the opposite okay.
What bothers me so much is that this book could have been great. It could have been an award winning masterpiece, but it falls short in one too many areas. What could have been an 11 out of 11 gets dinged one too many times. I wanted this to be better. I wanted this to be a fantastic first book in a series. But instead it’s mediocre with enough enjoyability to keep it from being a complete mess.
Dreadnought by April Daniels was more soapbox than soap opera. By that I mean I feel that too much of the book was used to champion the struggle of transgendered people and not enough time was spent on characterization and story so in the end, the whole thing suffered. I’m going to read the next two books in the series just because I liked this book enough to keep going, but as for my recommendation? If you want to read a book with a modern social justice topic, then this could be for you. If you want a good superhero book, pick up something else unless something about the premise really catches your eye.
Dreadnought by April Daniels gets a 5 out of 11
Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu | Book Review
• book review, dc, superhero
Did you know that DC is releasing books based on some of their characters? So far they’ve done Batman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Superman (Coming Soon). These are in the DC Icons series by Random House an they’re aimed at a young adult audience. But like most YA books, they can be enjoyed by people of all ages, so is this book for you? Check out my review for Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu.
Remember my Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda review where I had an issue with the title? I kind of have a similar but very small, minor, almost ignorable, problem with this title. Batman isn’t even in this book. Bruce Wayne is. Many of you may think I’m splitting hairs, and I kind of am, but I direct you to this comic snippet from Wonder Woman Annual from the DC Rebirth event.
Even when holding the lasso of truth, he still calls himself Batman. Of course, this book takes place before he ever donned the cape and cowl but still, if you put Batman in the title, I want see Batman. But lets put this minor gripe behind us and talk about the book as a whole.
Batman: Nightwalker is the story of an eighteen year old Bruce Wayne who gets into trouble with the law after getting into a high speed chase after a criminal escapes the police. Bruce gets community service for his infraction and must go to Arkham Asylum and do janitorial work as his form of penance. It’s there that he meets a young woman connected to The Nightwalkers who are a group of criminals that have been robbing and murdering the richest of the rich in Gotham. It seems like fate brought them together as only Bruce can help stop the murderous group before they strike again.
I know. Most of you may expect something different from anything involving Batman. But it’s important to remember that this is a young Bruce Wayne in, what could be, the first case that helps him on his way to becoming the caped crusader. A Study In Scarlet may be the first Sherlock Holmes book, but you know that somewhere in his past there was some event that made him realize he wanted to be a detective. Same goes for Batman. Is this the case that makes him want to become a badass vigilante? Maybe.
Batman has always been different than the other DC characters. Though we all love to see the Dark Knight in action, there’s always a lot of mystery and detective work in his stories, which makes sense because of his origin in Detective Comics 27 back in 1939. This book focuses on that aspect. There’s a lot of legwork from Bruce in this one and without the freedom that the cape, cowl, and years of experience will give him later on in life. But instead of his wonderful toys, he has the help of his friends.
There are some new characters added just for this story, all of whom I’m assuming are now DC cannon, but there are also old friends that return as well. On top of Bruce we have Alfred (of course), Harvey Dent (pre-Two Face), Lucious Fox, and another which would be a spoiler for the story, but this book has the perfect mix of old and new. If it had something borrowed and blue we’d have a wedding on our hands.
This is an easy to read book which will probably get it looked down on by book snobs, but you know what? There’s nothing wrong with an easy to read book. It’s the story that matters, not how many sesquipedalian words an author uses. (Sesquipedalian is an adjective that describes a long multi-syllable word. I had to look it up.) So if you’re looking for an easy to read book with a good story, this is for you.
I only had a couple problems with the book and both of them are just me nitpicking the writing itself. There are certain things I view as “bad writing” that Marie Lu obviously doesn’t view the same way. An underdeveloped side story and an overabundance of adverbs were annoying to read but the overall enjoyability of the story far overshadowed the negative aspects of the book. Marie Lu is a talented writer who wove a great first adventure for a young Bruce Wayne. No guano here, only pre-Batman goodness.
Batman: Nightwalker gets an 8 out of 11
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